Medical Geology of Africa explores the connection between geological materials, processes and the health of humans and animals. The book fosters an improved understanding of the ways in which the geological environment impacts the geographical distribution of health problems and how they contribute to better diagnoses and therapy. Africa's unique geoenvironmental condition gives added relevance to such studies, underlining the need for geoscience and public health students and practitioners to understand new principles and applications. Chapters in the book provide extended enquiry-based investigations and examples that employ real geochemical datasets, epidemiological records, public health statistics and visualizations.
Table of Contents
Part I Some topical issues in medical geology of Africa: current knowledge and research gaps1. General introduction
2. Project selection, proposal writing and reporting (dissertation or thesis) in medical geology
3. Geoenvironmental variables as causal co-factors of diseases of unknown aetiology in Africa
4. Environmental health impacts of geogenic source pollution in Africa
5. Combatting effects of ionising radiation exposure around uranium and gold mines in subsaharan Africa
6. Geophagic practices in Africa
Part II An exposition of some geomedically important elements, with Africa case descriptions
7. Introduction
8. Medical geology of arsenic
9. Medical geology of fluorine
10. Medical geology of iodine
11. Medical geology of lead
12. Medical geology of manganese
13. Medical geology of mercury
14. Medical geology of selenium
15. Medical geology of zinc
Part III Conclusion
16. General conclusion
17. Conclusion: medical geology in Africa future perspectives and prospects
